The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 221

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 221
Flash!
In that instant, a deafening roar erupted as a tremendous force exploded outward through the Subspace. Tiel was helplessly swept up in its violence.
‘Is this how I die?’
Yet even as the blast tore through her, Tiel found herself gripping the Emerald more tightly, seized by the conviction that she must not let it slip from her grasp.
The Emerald, now cleansed of its sinister light thanks to Tiel’s Ability, glimmered softly in her palm.
Rumble!
A colossal explosion detonated. Tiel understood then—the Princess was attempting to bring down the entire Subspace.
If this Subspace collapsed, she would be trapped here forever.
No one would find her. No force on earth could extract her—just as Orpheo had warned.
Unlike when Orpheo had spoken those words, Tiel felt genuine terror now, and her face drained of all color.
But then it happened.
The Subspace warped. A narrow fissure opened—a tear that led to the world beyond. Brilliant light poured through in torrents.
Tiel yearned to escape through that opening, but an immense force held her pinned, rendering her powerless.
The fissure flickered unstably, opening and closing in frantic rhythm.
Was the Princess’s destabilizing Subspace causing the breach? If so, this moment was her only chance to flee.
Tiel squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to shift into her snow fox form.
But no fur rippled forth, no ears emerged, no fluffy tail—nothing happened at all.
Within this Subspace, she could not transform at will. Her odds of reaching that fissure were nearly zero.
Then, unexpectedly—
A colossal force surged up from beneath her feet, erupting in relentless explosions that hurled her body skyward.
“What—?”
Her body drew closer to the gaping fissure. The cascading light bathed her face in radiance.
In that moment, her feet exploded again—this time with a force so vast it shook the entire Subspace.
The blast drove her small frame through the gap. With eyes wide open, Tiel was thrust beyond the Subspace’s boundary.
That power had unmistakably been the Princess’s. These explosions were the Princess’s will made manifest.
‘But why is she letting me out?’
Tiel had refused the Princess’s demand and kept the Emerald. She glanced down at her clenched hand, fear flickering—had the blast torn it from her grip?
No. The gem remained secure in her palm.
So why was she being set free?
The question vanished as the relentless cascade of explosions hurled her clear. Brilliant sunlight spilled across her white hair.
“Ahhh!”
Thud, crash, boom!
The force of the blast was too violent. She struck the ground three times as she tumbled.
Yet the final impact felt cushioned—soft as if she’d landed on padding rather than earth.
But Tiel had no mind for such details.
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
By the time she stumbled to call out to her, gasping and pushing herself upright, the fissure had already sealed shut.
Why had the Princess let her out? Hadn’t the Princess been Orpheo’s servant?
If Orpheo learned that the Princess had released her from the Subspace, he would rage.
‘Is that why she destroyed it?’
The Subspace was the Princess’s domain alone. Whatever transpired within it remained unknown to Orpheo unless she chose to reveal it.
So she destroyed the Subspace itself? To tell Orpheo that everything—and Tiel—had been lost in the collapse?
Tiel recalled the words the Princess had spoken to her.
‘Release it now, and I will free you from this place. Escape without drawing Orpheo’s eye. Do that, and you may yet live.’
‘She wanted to save me.’
For reasons Tiel could not fathom, the Princess had chosen to spare her. But why? That mystery eluded her entirely.
Then the man beneath her drew her into a tight embrace.
“Oh!”
Startled, Tiel let out a small cry. She turned quickly to see who lay beneath her.
So that was why the final impact had felt painless—someone had been cushioning her fall all along!
Tiel looked at the man’s face to confirm his identity, intending to apologize for having landed on him and to demand an apology for his hands moving so boldly across her body.
The moment she recognized his face, joy flooded her expression.
“Brother!”
The man beneath her was Ludian. Tiel lifted her head and saw Ferdi and Iandros gazing down at her.
Iandros stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. Ludian did not release his sister either.
“Tiel!”
Only then did Tiel look around. This was the entrance to the path leading upward to the Altar.
Following the guidance of Tiel’s Ability and the Water Ability, Iandros, Ferdi, Ludian, and Karl had been heading toward the Altar of Light.
But as they walked toward it, a Subspace had suddenly torn open in their path—and Tiel had come flying out of it.
There was no time for Iandros to react. Tiel crashed into the ground with no way to stop herself. Fortunately, Ludian, the quickest-moving among them, caught her at once.
Iandros checked her for injuries and found none. Ferdi embraced her tightly before releasing her and speaking.
“Tiel, how did you escape? We were so worried—we were searching for the Princess when—”
His voice was thick with genuine concern.
Tiel could scarcely imagine how much they must have feared for her. She spoke slowly, her expression still somewhat dazed.
“Orpheo trapped me inside the Princess’s Subspace. It was nothing but darkness—a space created only for me. He said I could never escape from there.”
Tiel sifted through her memories of the Princess, which she’d glimpsed within that darkness.
“But I found a gem there. When I held it, I could see the Princess’s memories.”
In those memories, the Princess had been kind, benevolent, and beautiful—preparing to become the next Empress.
Yet Tiel knew that before the coronation ceremony, the Princess had gone mad, and never ascended the throne. To glimpse the future and observe the past was far more agonizing than she’d ever imagined.
“So I saw her memories, and then the Princess herself appeared and freed me from the Subspace.”
“The Princess released you?”
Iandros asked in disbelief. Tiel understood his reaction. She herself couldn’t believe it.
The Princess had been Orpheo’s instrument, attacking them repeatedly. Without her intervention, Tiel would never have escaped on her own.
Yet the Princess had opened the Subspace, destroyed it to erase all trace of Tiel, and cast her back into the world.
None of them could fathom what the Princess was truly thinking.
Then—
Rumble!
A massive fissure tore open in the sky above them. Thunder crashed, and lightning descended in sheets.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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